Art Deco Top

One of my favorite TV programs is the Great British Sewing Bee. It's not only very "feel-good" program with lovely contestants, it's also quite inspirational and also provides background information about the history of clothing. So when I saw episode 4 of season 7 of the Great British Sewing Bee (the  year before last) where the contestants had to sew a made to measure inspired by Frida Kahlo and especially the huipils that some of their designs were based on, I wanted to make something similar in knitting.

Even though the inspiration came (in a very roundabout manner) from Frida Kahlo and mexican Huipil garments, my finished top didn't look like it at all. And when somebody on Instagram said the top reminded them of Art Deco patterns, I loved it and it stuck as a name.

This is a boxy top with a round neckline, short sleeves and side slits at the bottom edge. It is started with a magic CO in the middle and knitted outwards to the side and bottom seams.

As with many of my sweater/top "patterns", this is NOT a row-by-row pattern for various sizes, but rather a rough recipe of the ideas behind the construction of this garment. I will give the numbers I used for myself as an example in purple.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Materials

• yarn: I used a total of 300 grams of Sports weight yarn, the purple yarn was from my first attempt of my Garter Stitch Summer top - that eventually got frogged, the orange yarn was leftovers from my Eifel Cowl - I can imagine that it would also look nice to knit the whole top in one variegated yarn
• knitting needles: I used 3.5mm  circulars, (three pairs of circular needles, in the when front or back piece got big enough - one for each of the three edges)
• a crochet hook of about the same size - for a crochet CO and for crocheting the neckline edge 
• scrap yarn - as a stitch holder
• stitch markers
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Techniques & Definitions

• Judy's Magic Cast-On is a technique that gives you live stitches on both sides of your needle - it is generally used for toe-up socks, but it can be used for other purposes as well. Here's a written description (from Knitty) and here's a YouTube-video by Cat Bordhi and another YouTube-video by Very Pink Knits. 
• Pick up and knit: Picking up stitches from the side edge of your work as shown in this YouTube video by B.Hooked Crochet & Knitting
• kfb: increasing by one stitch - by knitting into the front and back leg of a stitch; it is shown in this YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter
• kbf: a stitch that is symmetrical to a kfb; e.g. shown in this YouTube-video by Roxanne Richardson: https://youtu.be/OJMya9xaol4  (it's perfectly possible to do a kfb instead, I just prefered the symmetrical look for my stripe pattern)
• Crochet CO: shown in this YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter
• Reverse Single Crochet (Crab Stitch): a crochet stitch that makes for a lovely edging - shown in this YouTube video by Tamara Kelly - Moogly
• One garter stitch ridge equals two rows of garter stitch

Measuring, Calculating & Construction

The whole top has a boxy construction - based on a rectangles - that may not be the most flattering shape. If you want more shaping you could add short rows (maybe an underarm wedge) - however, this is not described here. Ideas to change the shape and dimensions of the piece can be found below in section "Other sizes".

Schematic - click on picture to enlarge

The top is constructed as follows:

• each part (front & back) starts in the middle of the neckline with a magic CO;
• then you will knit in an angled U-shape around this CO, with increases at the corners that form a rectangular pattern), if you knit according to the instructions, you will add five ridges to the length for each four ridges to the width on each side, i.e. the piece grows downwards and sideways;
• meanwhile at the upper edge (neckline) you add increases to shape the rounded neckline - until you've reached the desired shoulder height; these neckline increases are different for front and back (the front neckline is deeper than the one in the back);
• once you've reached the desired width, you only work on the lower edge to add length, the stitches on the sides are put on stitch holders (scrap yarn)
• when you've finished front and back piece, you sew up the shoulder seams
• for the arms, you pick up the required number of stitches around the shoulder seams (one half from the side seam of the back piece, the other half from the front piece) and knit them in rows
• the sides are seamed up by holding rights sides together and doing a three needle BO
• finally, the underarm seams and shoulder seans need to be sewn up

The picture below shows the measurements that you need to take.

Measurements - click on picture to enlarge

A = neck width
B = shoulder width
C = width of the piece (= A + 2xB)
D_front = neck depth front 
D_back = neck depth back
E_front = length of magic CO front 
E_back = length of magic CO depth back
to get the same overall shape for front and back piece, the front neck depth plus the front CO must equal the back neck depth plus the back CO (D_front + E_front  =  D_back +  E_back)
F = length of main piece (front & back)
G = additional length
H = shoulder to underarm (or half of the arm circumference at the top)
I = arm length

Knitted in garter stitch my yarn/needles combination gave 

• 10 cm in height for 22 ridges (44 rows) and 
• 10 cm in width for 22 sts.

My desired measurements were

A =  about 21 cm, i.e. 45 ridges (i.e. 1 ridge for the magic CO plus 22 on each side, 22x2 + 1)
B =  about 14,5 cm, i.e. 29 ridges
C = 50 cm ( = 2x14,5 + 21)
D_front = 12 cm, i.e. 25 sts
D_back = 4.5 cm, i.e. 11 sts 
E_front = 7.5 cm, i.e. 18 sts
E_back = 15 cm, i.e. 33 sts 
F = 49 cm
G = 4 cm
H  = 21 cm , i.e. 46 sts
I = about 6.5 cm, i.e. 14 ridges

Even though you can adapt the size while knitting, I strongly suggest that you knit a swatch before starting, so that you have a rough idea of the number of stitches necessary (at least for the CO). 

Because of the construction (and the rate the piece grows), I would advise to do choose the magic CO to a length that D_front + E_front  make up for about 40% of the overall length of the piece (that's the distance from the shoulder seams to the lower edge of the magic CO). This aims for C and F being roughly equal.

Another important issue: Make sure to take notes while you're knitting your pieces so that you can reconstruct it later, i.e. so that the back matches the front or the left sleeve matches the right.

Instructions

While you're knitting the main stripe pattern, you will at the same time have to increase along the neckline. Since - depending on your yarn weight and desired size - these issues need to be addressed separately, they are explained separately below. 

Front - Main stripe pattern

You start knitting in the middle of the neckline. I wanted a rounded, wide(-ish) neck and about 12 cm deep. So I "started" the mCO in the knowledge that there would be 25 sts to increase to shape the neckline.

In MC do a magic CO so that there is one stitch more on the top than on the bottom needle (the additional stitch will make up the horizontal line of the pattern (see picture 1, the top needle has one more stitch than the bottom one).

I did a magic CO of 2x18+1 sts (i.e. after the neck increases are added the lower edge of the magic CO is 18 + 25 = 43 sts away from the shoulder seam)

Turn the needle so that you look at the garter stitch bumps (see picture 2), the needle with the additional stitch is still on top, however, the last stitch is not secured. Therefore, before you start knitting twist tail and working yarn once to secure the first stitch of the row (see picture 3). 

In MC

Ridge 1: (RS) top needle, ktbl to last stitch on top needle, kfb, switch to bottom needle, k1, kbf, k to end
    (WS): k to 2 bef end of needle, pm, k2, switch to other needle, k1, pm, k to end

In case of my magic CO this was:
Ridge 1: (RS) ktbl 17, kfb, k1, kbf, k17, turn
    (WS) k18, pm, k3, pm, k18

Ridge 2: (RS) k all, turn
    (WS) k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to end

In CC

Ridge 3 (RS): k all, turn
    (WS) k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to end

in MC

Ridge 4: (RS) k all, turn
    (WS) k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to end
Ridge 5: (RS) k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to end, turn
    (WS) k to m, sm, k to m, turn; (RS) k to m, turn (WS) k to m, sm, pick up one stitch from edge, k to end

Pictures 4 to 6 illustrate how to pick up a stitch in the middle of a row. When knitting row 10 after you've turn for the second time and knitted up to the next marker you find a (short) edge (one ridge high) from which you have to pick up one stitch (see pointer in picture 4). You then insert the needle into that stitch (picture 5) and draw a loop of your working yarn through (picture 6).

The pictures also show that after a few ridges, I put the stitches between the markers (vertical part of the stripe pattern) on another needle. That way the piece is not distorted by being bunched up on two needles only. As the piece grew bigger I switched to 3 sets of circulars - one for each edge. (The "end of needle" did the job of the stitch marker.)

in CC

Ridge 6: (RS) k to m, sm, k to m, sm, pick up one stitch from edge, k to end, turn
    (WS: k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to 1 bef m, kfb, sm, kbf, k to end

Repeat ridges 4 to 6 until the colored panel is as big as you want it.
Then continue repeating ridges 4 to 6 in MC only.

(It theory, you could do the increases (kfb/kbf) always on RS. The reason I alternated is that it looked better with the stripe pattern, i.e. if you do a kfb in the first row after a color change, you see a little bump of the color below and I wanted to avoid that.)

I knitted 12 repeats, i.e. I knitted 12 CC stripes. Than I added 5 more repeats in MC only.

Front - neckline shaping

WHILE you're knitting the main stripe pattern, you need to increase at the beginning and end of some rows to shape the neckline. Since I wanted a rounded neckline, I started with few increases, raising their number towards the outer edge of the neckline. 

I would advise that - once you calculated the width and height of your neckline - draft the desired shape on graph paper and do your increases accordingly.

The picture below shows the left half of the front neckline and how I distributed the increases - starting from the magic CO.

Neckline Shaping - click on picture to enlarge

Increase in the beginning and end of one row means that I did a kfb at the second and the second to last stitch, i.e.: 
    k1, kfb (instructions for this row until 1 bef end), kfb, k1

At last ridge I did a crochet CO of 9 stitches at the beginning and the end of the row.

Finishing the front piece

If your piece isn't long enough, knit a few more ridges using the stitches of the lower edge.
I lenghtened both pieces by 6 ridges (12 rows) before binding off.

Put the stitches of the side edges on scrap yarn.

Your last row is a WS row.

Back

The back piece is knit similar to the front piece EXCEPT that

• the original magic CO is longer because the back neckline is shallower
• the neckline increases are different

For my piece I wanted a neck depths of 10 sts, therefore I did a magic CO of 2x33 + 1 stitches (i.e. the total distance from the lower edge of the magic CO to the shoulder seam is 33 + 10 = 43 sts - the same as for the front piece.

The picture below shows one half of the back neckline - starting from the magic CO, i.e. the distribution of the back neck increases.

Lengthen the back (knitting rows over the stitches of the lower edge) by the same amount of rows as you did with your front piece.

Put the stitches of the side edges on scrap yarn. 

Your last row is a WS row.

Sleeves

Calculate how many stitches you need for your sleeves. 

For my arms I needed 2x46 sts. So I slipped the calculated number of the uppermost stitches of the right hand side of the front piece (starting from the 46th stitch) and the same number of the uppermost stitches of the right hand side of the back piece (starting from the shoulder) on a back.

Starting on RS of the piece, knit the required number of  rows to reach your desired sleeve length.

Do the same for the other sleeve.

I knitted just very short sleeves, i.e. only 14 ridges per arm before BO.

Finishing

With right sides together, put the left side stitches of front and back pieces from your scrap yarn on knitting needles and do a three needle BO (in my case it was 2 x 59 sts). Do the same with the right side stitches. That does not connect the additional (lengthening) rows you did at the end of the piece - which achieves a nice seam slit effect.

Sew up the open arm seams (underarm).

Sew up the shoulder seams.

If you like, add a crochet border to the neckline; I used the reverse single crochet stitches (also known as crab stitch). 

Weave in all ends.

Other Sizes

In order to adapt this top to other shapes (i.e. other than the square main piece described above) you could for example do the following:

• Start with a longer (shorter) magic CO to get a narrower (wider) rectangular main piece.
• Knit underarm short row triangles (before knitting the sleeves) to shape the piece around the bust; with the wide part on the top right under the arm; then - when starting the sleeves; when you start to knit your sleeves you need to start in the middle of the upper edge of that triangle by picking up stitches from the edge then knit the first row of the sleeve and then picking up stitches from the second half of the short row triangle edge. 
• Knit darts by inserting decreases at breast height towards the last rows of the piece - equally on both vertical edges of the front piece. To make them less obvious, I would start them after finishing the stripe pattern. To make both pieces (front and back) the same underarm length, you need to adapt (decrase) the magic CO of the back piece by decreasing it accordingly, i.e. if there are 5 darts decreases on each edge of the front piece, the magic CO of the back piece needs to be 5 sts shorter.

Semiramis Summer Top

Currently, my knitting motivation is quite low. I don't know whether this is due to a general Covid19 weariness or to other reasons, but I haven't done much lately. Plus, there are about six or seven finished objects for which I haven't written the pattern - or for which there is a half-written pattern that I should finalize or proof-read ... but I just cannot bring myself to do it.

So, about a month ago I thought that I might just knit a simple top and not having to worry about writing a pattern. I always wanted to knit a lace top with thick yarn, so that's what I did  - using quite bulky cotton yarn, that was in my stash. (Actually, it was yarn from a project that I never finished - see this blogpost.)

I searched for interesting lace patterns on the internet and found some beautiful ones at Gannetdesign's blog String Geekery. For this top I used the stitch pattern called Semiramis.

I used about 9,5 skeins of Lang Yarns Cotone (i.e. about 660 metres of yarn) and 6.0mm knitting needles. Basically, I knitted four rectangles (back & front: 50cm by 65cm, and two sleeves: 42 cm by 20cm) and sewed them together. 

The actual knitted worked really well, even though knitting with 6mm needles always seems strange to me - I prefer knitting with 4-ply yarns and the appropriate needles. The sewing part took a bit longer ... :) However, I am rather pleased with the result - even though it is a bit bulky, it's a quite summery top.

Sideways Cardigan

Usually I don't buy bigger amounts of the same yarn unless I have a specific project in mind. However, a few years ago I made an exception when there was a sale at Vilfil (my favorite yarn store in Zurich) and among the items for sale was Noro Furin. At the time I bought a whole pack (10 skeins) - and it was in my stash for quite a long time, because I didn't have a good idea how to use it.
Last year in April, I decided to use it to knit a cardigan - sideways and in one piece because I don't like cutting my yarn or and I like to minimize the finishing work (e.g. sewing pieces together). Plus, with variegated yarn, I don't like the abrupt color changes that can occur when putting on the arms.
In the end it took me to August 2019 to finish knitting it - and to the following January to finally sew up the arms and to attach the buttons. ...  And now it's taken me nearly a year to write down the instructions.  So, here's a tutorial on how to do something similar.

As with my other sweater patterns (e.g. Summer Garter Stitch Top and Waterfall Tunic) this is NOT a stitch-by-stitch pattern with stitch and row counts for various sizes but rather a tutorial on how to do something similar.
You will have to swatch and calculate for yourself. So this cardigan is completely configurable to your wishes and your shape. I will however give you my numbers and calculations as an example (written in purple).

The basic idea for stitch pattern (changing the skein and alternating between garter and stockinette stitch) is stolen from Lanesplitter Skirt by Tina Whitmore - because it is such great way to show off the color changes of the variegated yarn that I used.

This work by Kniting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 

Materials

• yarn, I used about 470 grams of Aran Weight yarn (Noro Furin, colorway 4 - here's a link to the yarn's Ravelry page), 
• straight or circular knitting needles, I used 4.5mm needles - mine were 100 cm long.
• removable stitch markers (safety pins or scrap yarn work fine as well)
• 3 buttons, and sewing needle and thread to sew them on

Techniques

• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits. (Yes, other short row methods works as well.)
• Knitted Cast-On: See this Youtube-video by Very Pink Knits.
• Cable Cast-On: See this Youtube-video by Very Pink Knits.
• Pick up and knit: Picking up stitches from the side edge of your work as shown in this YouTube video by B.Hooked Crochet & Knitting

Construction, Measurements, and Calculations

The cardigan is knitted sideways and in one piece. It starts with the left sleeve is knitted up to the shoulder. Then (with knitted COs on both sides) the piece is widened to create the front and back piece of the cardigan). At each end short rows are used to shape the piece (i.e. to make sure it is wide enough to fit around your waist). When you've reached the width of your shoulder, you bind off the stitches on the front part and start to knit a "back-only" part. This starts with a few decreases at the top to get a round neckline at the neck edge. 

Once you've reached the middle (or centerline), you basically knit everything backwards, i.e. a mirror image of the first half. This means that just before you've reached the intended neckwidith, you  increases at the neck edge, then you do a knitted CO to start the front right part. Then you continue to knit the front and back (right part) at the same time. After a bind off at both sides you knit the right sleeve as a mirror image to the left one.

In the end, you pick up stitches along the inner edge of the front parts and the neckline (green line in figure 1) to knit a collar with button holes.

Figure 1: Construction

You need to take the following measurements:

A = arm circumference at wrist
B = arm circumference at shoulder
C = from shoulder to hip (total length of garment)
D = from under arm to hip (or C-B/2)
E = depth of neckline on the back of the garment

F = arm length
G = width of shoulder seam
H = half of the width of neckline
I = width of one side of the cardigan at your hip (for me H=I/2)
J = width at hip (should be roughly half of your hip circumference)

Figure 2: Measurements

Knit a swatch and calculate the stitch and row numbers according to your measurements!
Alternatively, with a rough idea of your gauge, you can start with the arm piece and use this as your swatch - however, this swatch piece has then not been blocked and/or washed and might be less exact than you'd like it to be ... and maybe you'll need to frog it after knitting half a sleeve (i.e. you've just knitted a bigger swatch ;-(.
So, better just knit a swatch and block it.

Here are my calculations for stitch numbers and ridges - rounded. My swatch measured 18 sts for 10 cm in width and 30 rows (in pattern) for 10 cm in height.

A = 22 cm = 40 sts
B = 42 cm = 72 sts
C = 60 cm = 108 sts
D = 60 cm - 21 cm = 39 cm - or 108 sts - 36 sts = 72 sts
E =  1,5 cm =  3 sts
 
F = 45 cm = 135 rows
G = 10 cm = 30 rows
H = 10 cm = 30 rows
I = 25 cm = 75 rows
J = 50 cm = 150 rows

Before you start ...

• The 2nd half of one piece (right side) is the exact mirror of the 1st part (left side). So it's essential to take notes while you're knitting, in order to be able to knit the same rows in the opposite order (i.e. decreases where you increased, BO where you CO'd etc.)
• Since I am not "busty" I didn't make allowance for bust shaping. This can be done by starting the front side short rows higher up in the rows or by inserting short rows at bust height that act as bust darts (as I did in the No Assembly Required Top).

Instructions

Throughout the pattern you alternate skeins of variegated yarn (skeins S1 and S2).

The basic stitch pattern for the sleeves (without the calculated increases) is:

• two rows in stockinette stitch in S1, 
• two rows in garter stitch (i.e. one garter ridge) in S2, 
• four rows in stockinette stitch in S1, 
• two rows in garter stitch (i.e. one garter ridge) in S2.

Or spelled out: 

Row 1 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 2 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end    // stockinette part, S1
Row 3 (RS), S2): sl1, k to end
Row 4 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end    // garter ridge, S2
Row 5 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 6 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end
Row 7 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 8 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end    // stockinette part, S1
Row 9 (RS), S2): sl1, k to end
Row 10 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end    // garter ridge, S2

The stitch pattern for the body is similar

• two rows in stockinette stitch in S1 - with some (calculated) short rows at the beginning and end of the row
• two rows in garter stitch (i.e. one garter ridge) in S2

So, when you finish a part, make sure that you continue in pattern, i.e. if you've finished the first sleeve on a garter ridge (in S2), start the main body in stockinette (S1) - my examples below might differ from that.

Left Sleeve

CO A stitches with S1
Instead of ribbing, knit several rigdes of garter stitch, alternating the skeins after each ridge.
I did a CO of 46 stitches and knit 4 ridges in garter stitch.

You now have to calculate the increases you have to do in order to reach B stitches at the shoulder.

I wanted to reach 72 stitches at the shoulder, i.e. I had to increase by 13 ((72-46)/2 =  26/2 = 13) on each side (beginning and end of row) - and I had 128 rows to reach that (D=136 rows, minus 8 rows already knitted for the "instead-of-ribbing"). So I decided had to do increases every 10th row (i.e. that would give 130 rows, but this difference (1cm) was OK for me).

Start knitting the stitch pattern above and increase (as calculated at the beginning and end of the rows)

As calculated I knitted the pattern and increased at the beginning and end of every 10th row, i.e. after 130 I had 13x2 = 26 sts more than the CO, i.e. 46+26 = 72 sts.

To help me count the rows of the body part and to measure, I marked the last row of the sleeve with a removable stitch marker.


Body (Back Piece and Two Front Pieces)

Left Half 

Knit the next row, at the end of the row, with a knitted cast-on, CO D stitches for the front.

Then turn, knit back and CO D stitches for the back.

I wanted to add 39 cm to the lenght (added to the sleeve width - back and front), so I CO'd 72 sts on each side.

Since you're knitting sideways and the shoulders are narrower than the piece around the hips, you now have to calculate the amount of short rows to knit at the front and the back. Plus, you have to decide where you want your short rows to end.

The short rows for the front piece are calculated by the ratio of G to I (i.e. shoulder width to width at the hip of one half).
And the short rows for the back piece by the ratio of G+H to J/2 (i.e. shoulder width plus half of the neckline width to half of the width at the hip.

This means, that you have more short rows on the front than on the back.

For the front I had G = 10 cm and I=25 cm, i.e. for each shoulder ridge, I had to knit 2,5 ridges on the lower edge, i.e. a ratio of 1:2,5 or 2:5. 

For the back it was G+H=10+10= 20 cm and J/2 = 50/2 = 25 cm. So I had the ratio of 2:2,5 or 4:5.

I wanted to keep the pattern of 1 garter ridge and stockinette rows inbetween.

So, taking into account the short rows calculated above, I ended up with this pattern, but I varied the points where I did the w+t's a bit.

Row 1 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end
Row 2 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end  // garter stitch ridge
Row 3 (RS), S1): sl1, k to end
Row 4 (WS, S1): sl1, p65, w+t

Row 5 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 6 (WS, S1): sl1, p40, w+t

Row 7 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 8 (WS, S1): sl1, p15, w+t

Row 9 (RS, S1): k to end   

Row 10 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end  // stockinette part with short rows in front

Repeat rows 1 to 10 once, after you've the last row for the 2nd time, continue with 

Row 21 (RS, S1): sl1, k35, w+t

Row 22 (WS, S1): p to end   // stockinette part plus short rows in the back

I knitted these rows 4 times, i.e. until the shoulder was wide enough.

Knit the calculated pattern until you've reach the shoulder width. 

Now you have to BO the stitches on the front part, i.e. knit to the end of an RS row and BO C stitches.

In my case I had to BO 108 sts. So I knitted an RS row, and started the WS with binding off 108 sts.

 

Now that you've reached the neck of the piece and have done a BO of the front stitches, you need to knit only the part of the rows, that is on the back of the cardigan. 

For me that meant skipping the rows that were called row 4 to row 9 in the body pattern above, i.e. the following: 

Row 1 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end
Row 2 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end   // garter stitch ridge
Row 3 (RS), S1): sl1, k to end

Row 4 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end   // stockinette rows

Repeat rows 1 to 4 once more. After you've the last row for the 2nd time, continue with 

Row 9 (RS, S1): sl1, k35, w+t

Row 10 (WS, S1): p to end   // stockinette part plus short rows in the back 

However, if you want to have a slight curve in the back of the neckline, you have to do some decreases at the end of the first RS rows to shape a curve in your neck. 

I wanted a curve that was 1,5 cm deep, so over the first 6 rows, I decreased one stitch every other row, i.e. I knitted up to the last three stitches of a RS row and ended with "ssk, k1".

Knit your calculated pattern until you've reached exactly the centerline of your piece.

I ended on a stockinette row in S2. For a nice symmetry (and to stay "in pattern") I knitted one garter stitch ridge in S1.

Right Half

After reaching the middle of your piece, you basically have to knit a mirror image of the 1st half, i.e. 

• you increase where you decreased before, 
• you to a BO where you did a CO before (and vice versa), 
• you knit the same short rows as before - just in reverse order.

So first you knit the back part only.

For me this meant the following for rows 1 to 10 of the back-only part.

Row 1 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end

Row 2 (WS, S1):, p to end   

Row 3 (RS, S1): sl1, k35, w+t

Row 4 (RS, S1): p to end      // stockinette part plus short rows in the back 

Row 5 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end

Row 6 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end   // garter stitch ridge

Row 7 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end

Row 8 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end   // stockinette rows

Row 9 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end

Row 10 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end      // garter stitch ridge

Plus, just before you finish the back-only part, you need to include some increases at the upper edge (to mirror the decreases you did during the right half.

For me that meant that - starting from the 6th row before I had to do the BO, I increased one stitch every other row, i.e. I knitted up to the last two stitches of a RS row and ended with "kfb, k1".

Then you need to CO the front stitches again, i.e. knit an RS row and then do a knitted CO of the calculated number of stitches.

I knitted an RS row, then continued by casting on 108 stitches 

Knit the same pattern you knitted for the left half in reverse order until you've reached the shoulder width.

For me that meant knitting the following sequence

Row 1 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 2 (WS, S1): sl1, p15, w+t

Row 3 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 4 (WS, S1): sl1, p40, w+t

Row 5 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 6 (WS, S1): sl1, p65, w+t

Row 7 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 8 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end

Row 9 (RS, S1): sl1, k35, w+t

Row 10 (WS, S1): p to end     // stockinette "ridge" with short rows front and back

Row 11 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end
Row 12 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end    // garter ridge

Row 13 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 14 (WS, S1): sl1, p15, w+t

Row 15 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 16 (WS, S1): sl1, p40, w+t

Row 17 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 18 (WS, S1): sl1, p65, w+t

Row 19 (RS, S1): k to end

Row 20 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end    // stockinette "ridge" with short rows only in front 

Row 21 (RS, S2): sl1, k to end
Row 22 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end    // garter ridge

Once you've reached the shoulder width of the right shoulder, knit to the end of the row, turn and BO D stitches (front), and knit to end. Then BO D stitches (back). The number of stitches that you have left now should be exactly the number you had when you finished the first sleeve.

For me that meant:

Row 1: sl1, k to end

Row 2: BO72, k to end

Row 3: BO72

Right Sleeve

The right sleeve is the left sleeve knitted backwards, i.e. knitting the stitch pattern in reverse order and doing decreases where you did increases before.

Knit in pattern (with the decreases) until your right sleeve has the same length than the left.

I knitted the sleeve stitch pattern in reverse order ...

Row 1 (RS), S2): sl1, k to end
Row 2 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end   // garter ridge

Row 3 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 4 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end
Row 5 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 6 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end  // stockinette part

Row 7 (RS), S2): sl1, k to end
Row 8 (WS, S2): sl1, k to end   // garter ridge

Row 9 (RS, S1): sl1, k to end
Row 10 (WS, S1): sl1, p to end   // stockinette part

... while I did decreases at the beginning and end of every 10th row.

Then finish with the same "ribbing" you did on your left sleeve and bind off (loosely).

In my case that meant knitting 4 ridges of garter stitch alternating the skeins.


Collar

Pick up stitches all along the inner edge on the left front, the neck and the right edge in front (see green line in figure 1 above).

Knit (back and forth) 3 ridges of garter stitch.

Calculate the size of your button holes and decide where you want to put the buttons, i.e. decide on the distance between two buttons and calculate the appropriate number of stitches.

Knit up to the 1st button hole, BO the number of stitches for 1 button, k to the next button hole, BO the number of stitches for 1 button

 

The buttons I bought had a diameter of 2,5cm, so I decided that I'd make my button holes 4 sts wide and I decided that I'd place them within the lowest 20 cm, i.e 40 sts, 

So I knitted the "botton hole ridge" as follows:

sl1, k7, BO4, k10, BO4, k10 BO4, k to end; 

sl1, k up to first BO, CO4, k10, CO4, k10, CO4, k to end

Knit 3 more ridges of garter stitch, BO during the last row.

Finishing

I prefer to block the finished piece (sewn up) rather than the flattened out version. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

Sew the side underarm seams together and the buttons on. Weave in ends.

Sew on buttons and block the piece.

Garter Stitch Bias Top

I love garter stitch. If you use self-striping yarn, you can make it stand out with unusual constructions - so that you can create quite interesting garments (e.g. Summertime Garter Stitch Top, No Assembly Required Top) or accessories (e.g. Color Explosion Mitts, Little Rectangles Scarf, Patchwork Cowl).
Another feature of garter stitch is that one ridge (2 rows) of garter stitch are basically as high as one stitch is wide. That way, you can easily put pieces of garter stitch together at right angles. And that's what I did with this piece.
This top is knitted on a 45 degree bias - and except for the arms - it is knitted in one piece.  It has a V-neck in front, this V is partially filled in the back.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.



This is NOT a row-by-row pattern in different sizes. It is a rough tutorial to construct a similar garment yourself - explaining the measurements to take and the underlying calculations to make. This means that you can use other yarn weights as well.

Even though, the calculations involved seem a bit complicated at first, the actual knitting is straight-forward (garter stitch with simple increases and decreases). Plus, the only real calculations you need, have to be done right at the beginning (when you calculate your COs)  - and here I've given several examples. The rest can be done by measuring your piece as you go along.


Materials

• yarn, I used about 8,5 skeins of Lana Grossa, Linea Pura A Mano (here's the yarn's Ravelry page), which amounts to about 950 meters of cotton DK weight yarn - since this is a tutorial that explains the calculations you can use other yarn weights as well. I think the design looks best in variegated yarn.
• knitting needles that suit the yarn (I used 4mm circulars - with quite a long cable)
• a crochet hook, roughly the same size as the knitting needles (I used a 4mm hook)
• quite a few stitch markers - scrap yarn works fine
• scrap yarn - as stitch holder for the arm stitches
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends
• a piece of paper or cardboard - big enough to measure half of the width of the shirt and from your shoulder to under your arm (for me an A4 piece of paper was enough)
• a notepad, to take notes while you're knitting

Techniques

• Crochet Cast On: basically the same as a provisional CO with a crochet hook - except that you use your working yarn and that in the you put the stitch that is still on the hook on the knitting needle. Here's a YouTube video by KnitPurlHunter that explains the technique.
  There are two cast ons - one at the beginning of part 1 (the left part) and one at the beginning of part 4. To make sure, that both sides look the same, I used a crochet cast on for both.
• Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
• Pick up and knit: Picking up stitches from the side edge of your work as shown in this YouTube video by B.Hooked Crochet & Knitting
• Picking up stitches from a gap or ditch: After separating the arm stitches, going on knitting and then picking up the arm stitches again, there usually is a gap under the arm. This gap can be closed by picking up a couple of stitches. An example of how to pick up gap stitches in a top-down raglan sweater is shown in a YouTube video by The Chilly Dog.

Measuring, Swatching and Calculating

Start by knitting a swatch to find out how many ridges and stitches you need to knit a 10 x 10 cm square.
With my swatch I had 20 stitches for 10 cm in width and 20 ridges (40 rows of garter stitch) for 10 cm in height.

Knit a swatch - don't rely on the yarn label for the calculations for this sweater. If you don't knit a swatch, you'll probably end up ripping back, i.e. knitting a bigger swatch :/

Then take your and decide on your measurements.
A = depth of your V-neck (front) = half of your neck width (since you are knitting on a 45 degree bias, these will be the same)
B = shoulder (from neck opening to shoulder head)
C = depth of neck in the back
D = width of your shirt, this is a boxy shirt (without any shaping around the bust or waist), so take the widest measurement around your torso
E = shoulder to under arm
F = height (shoulder seam to bottom hem)

Since you're knitting on the bias (45 degrees, i.e. your calculations are based on a right-angled isosceles triangle), the width and length that you measure needs to be multiplied by √2 (square root of 2 or roughly multiply by 1.41) to get the stitch numbers.
And if you want to calculate how many "biased" centimetres give you how many centimetres (or ridges) in your measurements you have to divide by √2  (i.e. roughly divide by 1.41).

I wanted the following measurements - and with my gauge 1 cm equalled exactly 2 stitches or 2 garter stitch ridges (that's where the first "2 *" comes from).
A = 11 cm: 2 * 11 = 22 ; 22 *  √2 stitches = 22 * 1.41 stitches = 31 stitches
B = 10 cm: 2 * 10  = 20; 20  /  √2 ridges  = 20 /1.41 ridges =  14 ridges
C = 3 cm: 2 * 3 = 6; 6 *  √2 stitches = 6 * 1.41 = 8.5 stitches
D = 50 cm: 2 * 50 = 100; 100  /  √2 ridges  = 100 /1.41 ridges = 71 ridges
E = 20 cm: 2 * 20 = 40; 40  * √2 stitches = 40 x 1.41 stitches = 56 stitches
F = 55 cm: 2 * 55 = 110; 110 /   √2 ridges  = 110 /1.41 ridges = 78 ridges

When you decide on the width of the neck (A), I'd advise to err on the generous side, because it's nearly impossible to widen the neck afterwards - but it would be possible to make it a bit narrower, e.g. with a crochet edge. (Believe me, I had to frog it once ... while I was knitting part 4 and detected that the neckline felt too small.)

Construction / Parts

This top is basically knitted in one piece (except for the arms). The picture below shows the construction and parts - it only gives you a front view, but during most parts you'll knit both on the front and back of your piece at one time.

• Part 1: Cast on for the back neckline and the left side of the V neck as well as the triangle in the back just below the neckline. This triangle is created with short rows and decreases.
• Part 2: Left shoulder - knitted back and forth over the shoulder while increasing
• Part 3: After putting the left arm stitches on a stitch holder, Underarm left hand side - knitted back and forth under the left arm
• Part 4: Main body part - started by picking up stitches from the edge of parts 2 and 3 and - in the middle a cast on for right side of neck, right shoulder, then knitted back and forth over the right shoulder
• Part 5: Underarm right hand side - after putting the stitches of the right arm on a stitch holder
• Part 6: Arms

Instructions

Part 1: CO and Triangle at the Back of Neck

Calculate the number of stitches for the left half of the front of the V, the left half of the back neckline and the horizonal part of the back neckline (for details see Section "Calculations" below). After you've done these calculations, you've done the worst part of the "maths" bit (and I've given you some example calculations below) ... the rest can be done by measuring the piece as you go along.

CO the calculated number of stitches with crochet CO.
(I used a crochet CO here, because there will be another CO - the right half of the V in the beginning of part 4 - where you only have 1 strand of yarn and you need an appropriate CO method for that. I wanted both halves to look the same. In my first (then frogged) try, I used a longtail CO in the beginning and knitted CO at the start of part 4 - next to one another these two CO methods looked just too different.

The CO consists of number of stitches for front neckline (A * √2), number of stitches for the back neckline (C * √2), and number of stitches for horizontal part of back neckline (2 * (A-C)). Place stitch markers after each part.
(For the next CO - at the beginning of part 4 - the calculation is a bit easier, it's only (A * √2) + (C * √2)).

I wanted A to be 11 cm - and C to be 3 cm. 

• A * √2 : 11 * √2 = 15,5 cm (with my gauge 31 sts)
• C * √2: 3 * √2 = 4.25 cm (with my gauge 8.5, sts rounded to 9 sts)
• 2 * (A-C) : 2*(11-3) = 2* 8 = 16 cm (with my gauge 32 sts)

Therefore my complete original CO (beginning of part 1) was 31 + 9 + 32 = 72 sts

Row 0 will start with the stitches for the front neckline; your stitch line-up is:
front neckline (A * √2), marker A (top of shoulder), back neckline (C * √2), marker B, horizontal part of neckline.

Row 0 (RS): k all

Now you're starting to knit a triangle of short rows.
Ridge 1 (WS/RS): sl1, k1, w+t, k to end
Ridge 2 (WS/RS): k1, ssk, w+t, k to end
Ridge 3 (WS/RS): sl1, k up to wrap, k1, w+t, k to end
Ridge 4 (WS/RS): sl1, k up to wrap, ssk, w+t, k to end

Repeat ridges 3 and 4 until the number of stitches on either side of stitch marker a are the same. This should (roughly) conincide with reaching stitch marker B since you're decreasing at every 2nd ridge. After a few repeats your piece should look similar to illustration 1.
You can remove stitch marker B now.
You're at the tip of the triangle you just knitted and the next row is a WS row.


Part 2: Left Shoulder

Row 0 (WS): sl1, k to end

Now you're starting to knit back and forth in garter stitch - increasing at the shoulder.

Row 1 (RS): sl1, k to 1 bef marker A, kfb, slip marker, kfb, k to end

Row 2 (WS): sl1, k to end

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the shoulder seam is as wide as you want it to be (i.e. until you've knitted  B/√ 2 ridges in part 2).

Place a removable stitch marker between the last ridge you knitted and the next to mark the row where you ended the above sequence (or make a note how many ridges you knitted up to now).

Then start the following sequence - which will give a slightly downward curve at the shoulder seam.

Row 3 (RS): sl1, k to 1 bef marker A, kfb, slip marker, kfb, k to end

Row 4 (WS): sl1, k to end

Row 5 (RS): sl1, k to end

Row 6 (WS): sl1, k to end

Continue repeating rows 3 to 6 until you have enough rows to separate the arm stitches. 

While you're knitting, it might be helpful to mark the RS (with a removable stitch marker or some scrap yarn).

You can either calculate the number of ridges you need to knit until you have to separate the arm stitches (see calculations below - yes, they seem a bit complicated). Or you can cut out a piece of paper or cardborad with the following measurements:

• width = half of the width of your shirt (D/2)
• height = shoulder to underarm (E)

To measure, align you knitted piece (folded at the shoulder seam), so that the shoulder seam is at the upper edge and the tip of the V-neck is at the left edge (see illustation 3; the upper edge is marked with a light green line, the tip of the V-neck with a light green dot). Once you've reached the lower right hand corner of the piece of paper (indicated by the arrow), you can separate the arm stitches. (If you really, really want to know how the number of ridges could be calculated, I have provided this a the bottom of this post.)

Count the total number of ridges you knitted in part 2 and make a note of this. You'll need this information in part 4.

Calculated from the top of the shoulders, the arms should in theory be E * √ 2 stitches wide. However, since your arms hang downwards, you're not exacly knitting on a 45 degree bias anymore (but you're not yet knitting straight around the arm). Therefore the number of stitches you need to reach the width around the arm on that angle is lower than the stitches for E * √ 2, but higher than E. To get the number that's right for you, measure your piece and / or put it on. Then decide on a number of arm stitches somewhere between E and E * √ 2. Make a note of that number.

So, place temporary markers at that stitch at both sides of the shoulder.
On a WS row, knit up to the first temporary marker, put the stitches up to the next temporary marker on a big stitch holder or scrap yarn (while leaving marker A in), place a new middle marker (let's call it marker C) and continue knitting to the end of the row.

For me, E * √2 should have been 56 stitches (on the bias around the arm) and E (straight (not on the bias) around the arm) 40 stitches - the midpoint would be 48 stitches. Since garter stitch as a fabric is stretchy plus my yarn was stretchy too, I decided to make the arms a bit tighter and chose a width of 44 sts, i.e. I put temporary stitch markers 44 sts away from marker A at both sides of the piece (front and back) - then on a WS row I knitted up to the first temporary marker, put  2 * 44 sts (around marker A) my stitch holders, and finished the row.


Part 3: Left Underarm

Row 1 (RS): sl1, k to 2 bef marker C, ssk, slip marker C, k2tog, k to end
Row 2 (WS): sl1, k to end

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until there are only 4 sts left
Row 3 (RS): ssk, remove marker C, k2tog
Row 4 (WS): sl1, k1

Your piece should now look similar to illustration 4. The two stitches you have still on your needles will be the starting point of the stitches you're about to pick up.


Part 4: Main Body Part

Starting from the back and looking at the outside (RS) of your piece, pick up and knit one stitch for each ridge of the back diagonal edge.
When you reach the top of the filled triangle (of part 1), start a crochet CO of   C * √2 + A * √2 stitches - and place a marker (called marker D) after C * √2 stitches (i.e. at the top of the right shoulder). Then continue picking up and knitting stitches from the front of the diagonal edge. Your piece should now look similar to illustration 5 - and the number of stitches on either side of marker D should be the same.
(If there is a difference of one or two stitches on front and back, you can remedy that later in part 4 (Underarm Stitches) by leaving out one decrease (or two) just under the arm.)

In my case the new CO was 40 stitches - and I placed the marker after 9 sts.

• C * √2: 3 * √2 = 4.25 cm (with my gauge 8.5, sts rounded to 9 sts)
• A * √2 : 11 * √2 = 15,5 cm (with my gauge 31 sts)

Now you can start the main part with an RS row - the front and back side of the piece will be connected while knitting (with k2tog at the end of each row). Even though your stitches could now be knitted in the round, you'll be knitting back and forth. The end will be clearly visible. There will be increases at the top of the shoulder and below the arm.

Row 1 (RS): yo, kfb, k to 1 bef marker D, kfb, slip marker, kfb, to to 2 bef end, kfb, k2tog
Row 2 (WS): yo, k to 1 bef end, k2tog

The k2tog at the end of each row, connects the last stitch of the row with the yo at the beginning, thereby connecting the sides.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until one of the following things happens (depending on your measurements, either may happen first.):

1. the shoulder width (B) is reached.
2. the intended length of you piece (F) is reached

When no 1 happens:
Change the RS rows in a way, that now you only do the increases at the top of the shoulder every 2nd RS row - so you have the same contour at the shoulder seam than in part 2
E.g.:

Row 3 (RS): yo, kfb, k to 1 bef marker D, kfb, slip marker, kfb, to to 2 bef end, kfb, k2tog 

Row 4 (WS): yo, k to 1 bef end, k2tog

Row 5 (RS):  yo, kfb, k to 2 bef end, kfb, k2tog

Row 6 (WS): yo, k to 1 bef end, k2tog

When no 2 happens:

Change the instructions in the beginning and end of the row in a way, that - instead of increasing and connecting - you now decrease (without connecting to the other side). That way you'll knit the lower hem.

E.g. (if no. 1 happened before)

Row 7 (RS): ssk, k to 1 bef marker D, kfb, slip marker, kfb, to to 2 bef end,  k2tog 

Row 8 (WS): p1, k to 1 end

Row 9 (RS):  ssk, k to 2 bef end, k2tog

Row 10 (WS): p1, k to 1 end

Here (and during part 5) you would also have the opportunity to shape the piece at the hem - for most people (me included) the hips are a bit wider. You could widen the lower hem by knitting a few short rows (symmetrical at the front and back of the piece). I didn't do this -  but I wanted to mention that it is possible.

Knit on until the total number of rows you knitted in part 4 equals the number you knitted in part 2, i.e. it's time to separate the arm stitches of the right arm.

Place temporary stitch markers at the number of arm stitches away (see part 2) from marker D. 

On a WS row, knit up to the first temporary marker, put the stitches up to the next temporary marker on a big stitch holder or scrap yarn (while leaving marker D in), place a new middle marker (let's call it marker F) and continue knitting to the end of the row.

Photo 6 shows how your piece should look after separating the arm stitches.

Part 4: Right Underarm

Row 1: ssk, k to 2 bef marker F, ssk, slip marker, k2tog, k to 2 bef end, k2tog
Row 2: p1, k to end

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until there are 8 sts or fewer left.
Row 3: knit only decrease stiches (e.g. ssk, ssk, k2tog, k2tog)
Row 4: p1, k to end
Row 5: knit only decrease stitches (e.g. ssk, k2tog)
Row 6: BO the remaining stitches


Part 6: Arms

First arm:
Put the stitches of one arm from the stitch holder to your knitting needles - and rearrange them, so that your row starts at the top of the shoulder (at the place of the stitch marker, that you left in). There will be a visible gap at the middle of the row just under the arm.

You start knitting at the inside (WS) of your piece.

Row 1 (WS): ssk, k to the middle of the row (just under the arm) and pick up an even number of stitches from the gap (I picked up 4 sts) and place a marker in the middle of the stitches you just picked up (called marker UA (underarm)), k to last 3 sts, yo, k1, k2tog

Row 2 (RS): ssk, drop yo of row below, k to 2 bef marker UA, ssk, slip marker, k2tog, k to last 3 sts, yo, k1, k2tog
Row 3 (WS): ssk, drop yo of row below, k to 3 bef end, yo, k1, k2tog

After working rows 2 and 3 once,  you can remove the marker at the top of the arm, since the end of row is clearly visible now.
The yo you do in one row and then drop in the next help to get a stretchier edge.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until there are 8 sts or fewer left.
Row 3: knit only decrease stiches (e.g. ssk, ssk, k2tog, k2tog)
Row 4: p1, k to end
Row 5: knit only decrease stitches (e.g. ssk, k2tog)
Row 6: BO the remaining stitches

Repeat on second arm.

Back view - at the neckline you can see the short row triangle knitted in part 1

Calculations and Examples

All calculations below are based on the the Pythagorean theorem, that states "that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides." (direct quote from Wikipedia)

Number of Stitches to COs

The pictures below show the COs of this pattern. In black the original CO that is done in the beginning of part 1 (for the left side of the front neck, and the back neckline - and in magenta the CO for the right side of the neckline. The schematic below shows the same from the top - with the grey dotted line as the shoulder seam/fold line.

So, the original CO is calcuted as follows:
A * √2 + C * √2 + 2*(A-C)

And the CO at the beginning of part 4 like this:
A * √2 + C * √2 

I wanted A to be 11 cm - and C to be 3 cm. 

• A * √2 : 11 * √2 = 15,5 cm (with my gauge 31 sts)
• C * √2: 3 * √2 = 4.25 cm (with my gauge 8.5, sts rounded to 9 sts)
• 2 * (A-C) : 2*(11-3) = 2* 8 = 16 cm (with my gauge 32 sts)

Therefore the complete original CO (beginning of part 1) was 31 + 9 + 32 = 72 sts
The CO at the beginning of part 4 was 31 + 9 =40 sts.


To create this neckline, there are only two dimensions that you can choose:

• the depth of the front V (A)
• the depth of the neckline in the back (C)

Because this is a right-angled triangle, the other sizes (widths) will follow.

Here are examples of the CO length for different values of A and C - in centimeters, where

• "1st CO" is the length in centimetres of the CO at the beginning of part 1 (A * √2 + C * √2 + 2*(A-C)), 
• "marker" indicates after how many centimetres you have to place the "top of the shoulder marker" (A * √2 ) and 
• "4th CO" the length in centimetres of the CO at the beginning of part 4 (A * √2 + C * √2 ). I've rounded (up or down) to the next half centimetre.

	C=1.5 cm	C=3 cm	C=5 cm
A = 10 cm	1st CO: 33 cm marker: 14 cm 4th CO: 16 cm	1st CO: 32 cm marker: 14 cm 4th CO: 18,5 cm	1st CO: 31 cm marker: 14 cm 4th CO: 21 cm
A = 11 cm	1st CO: 36,5 cm marker: 15,5 cm 4th CO: 17,5 cm	1st CO: 35,5 cm marker: 15,5 cm 4th CO: 19,5 cm	1st CO: 34,5 cm marker: 15,5 cm 4th CO: 22.5 cm
A = 12 cm	1st CO: 40 cm marker: 17 cm 4th CO: 19 cm	1st CO: 39 cm marker: 17 cm 4th CO: 21 cm	1st CO: 38 cm marker: 17 cm 4th CO: 24 cm
A = 13 cm	1st CO: 43,5 cm marker: 18,5 cm 4th CO: 20,5 cm	1st CO: 42,5 cm marker: 18,5 cm 4th CO: 22,5 cm	1st CO: 41 cm marker: 18,5 cm 4th CO: 25,5 cm

Of course, you have to calculate the number of stitches from the centimetres according to your swatch.


From edge of V-neck to just under the arm

Just if you're interested - if you are not, please use a piece of paper or cardboard to measure as you knit (as indicated above) ...

It took me a while to figure this out - and I don't think it's quite elegant (as calculations go). If you know an easier way to calculate this, please let me know.

There are three numbers that you know
A = (the depth of the V)
D/2 = half of the top's width
E = shoulder to underarm

These are shown in the picture below - laid over a sketch of one shoulder of the top.

There is an rectangle with side lengths E and D/2. To calculate the centimetres from the edge of the V to below the arm (x), you need to enlarge this to an (imaginary) square with the side length D/2.
The diagonal of this square measures (that consists of x and another unknown y):

y can be calculated as follows:

So, x can be directly calculated:

Example calculation:
I had A = 11 cm, E = 21 cm and D/2 = 25 cm.

To calculate y (step by step)
A + D/2 - E = 11 + 25 - 21 = 15
15 * 15 =  225
225 /2 =  112
√112 = 10,6
=> y = 10,6

Now x+y:
D/2 * D/2 = 25 * 25 = 625
2 * 625 = 1250
√1250 = 35, 35
=> x + y  = 35, 35

x = 35,35 - 10,6 = 24,75 cm

With my gauge 24.75 cm equalled about 49 garter stitch ridges.

Front view - the skirt is an upcycling project made from old jeans